The world of Contagion is a dark and terrifying place. On the surface, it looks much like the world you and I live in, though this has begun to change. Until recently, an ancient conflict between supernatural factions who all seek dominion over the Earth and control over the souls of humanity raged in the shadows. With the destruction of the city of Mauston, Wisconsin (see Slouching Towards Bethlehem for details) the public has become aware that there are monsters stalking the shadows. Footage and photos of demons fighting in city streets, animate corpses shredding the flesh of their victims, only to be struck down by what could only be described as magical bolts of energy, even elves and werewolves; all these and more began flooding the internet and television news outlets in the wake of the Mauston tragedy. At first, the U.S. government tried its usual spin of mass hysteria, swamp gas reflecting the light from venus onto a weather balloon, and the like. About half of the population bought the official stories, blowing off the supernatural as “fake news.” The rest have been trying to cope with a reality that feels increasingly less “real” over the past several months.

Geek focuses on one event that brings the harsh reality of the supernatural into sharp focus for the citizens of one small American town, through a tragedy all too common in the United States. In this story, a teenage boy named Alan Taylor gets his hands on one of the most dangerous items in the world of Contagion: a spellbook. Bullied, outcast, and filled with impotent rage, Alan Taylor takes out his frustrations on his classmates in a spree killing.